Michael Bennett Finally Shows Up to New England Patriots Camp

It took awhile, but defensive end Michael Bennett finally made his way to Pats camp, stating that it was a ‘family issue’ as to why he wasn’t there when things kicked off.

As the defensive end was excused from the first three practices by coach Bill Belichick for personal reasons, rumors swirled as to why Bennett was missing.

“I didn’t retire,” Bennett said via the Associated Press. “I heard everybody said I was retiring, and I was laughing at home. I just had a family issue that I had to take care of.”

Bennett did not go into further detail regarding his absence, instead emphasizing his presence and why he reportedly took a red-eye flight from Hawaii to arrive in Boston on Sunday morning.

“You want to prove to your teammates that you love the game,” said the 33-year old who’s entering his 10th season with his fourth team and third in three seasons. “I grew up in the game. This game’s been part of my life for more than 20 years, so every time I step on the field and I’ve got teammates that believe in me, I just want to go out and show them that in every single moment, I’m going to go as hard as I can.”